Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta-By Jani

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta

1 box penne pasta

1/2 pkg fresh spinach leaves (chopped fine)

2 or 3 chicken breasts

1/2 onion chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1 jar spaghetti sauce (I like Bertolli olive oil & garlic)

1 can diced tomatoes (drained)

4 oz cream cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese (reserve 1 cup)

(I like the Italian blend cheese that has several mixed together)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (reserve 1/2 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 375*

Cook pasta in salted boiling water until almost done. Drain and set aside.

In a separate pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, chicken, onion, garlic and basil and cook until chicken is cooked through. Add spaghetti sauce, spinach, tomatoes and cream cheese. Heat until cream cheese is all melted in. Add chicken mixture to pasta and stir in 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Place in greased 9x13 pan and bake in oven for about 15 minutes or until heated through.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and place back in oven until cheese is melted.

Serve with warm garlic bread!

(no one in my family likes spinach... I chopped it up real fine and none of us even noticed it) This is a great way to ad those extra veggies that we all need to eat more of.

Circus Popcorn-By Jani

I was so excited when I found this recipe because my mom use to always buy me pink circus popcorn. Well they no longer make it anymore and when I found this recipe I thought I would give it a try... Sure enough tastes just like it... Maybe even better. I colored mine green today for more of a St. Patricks Day look!

Circus Popcorn

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cube butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Food coloring

2 bags microwave popcorn

Boil all ingredients together until it reaches soft ball stage on a candy thermometer. Pour over popped popcorn.

Mom's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies- By Jani

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
8 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and sour cream and mix well. Slowly add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

Dough will be very sticky at first... Use plenty of flour while rolling out the dough.

Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with floured cookie cutter and save scraps to roll out 1 more time. The more you roll out the dough the tougher the cookies get. I roll it all out once, cut my cookies and then roll the scraps out 1 time. The rest of the dough I just throw away.

Bake at 350* for 8 minutes. Cookies will not look done and will not be golden brown.

Frost with butter cream frosting.

Laura's Butter Cream Frosting- By Jani

Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup shortening

3/4 bag powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon butter extract

Milk to texture

Food coloring

Blend shortening, vanilla and butter extract with 1/2 of the powdered sugar and a splash of milk. Once it is all combined add the rest of the powdered sugar and a little more milk. The more milk you add the softer the frosting. It's best to start with a little milk and add as you go.

Mix for about 3-5 minutes so it won't be gritty.

This is so yummy you will want to eat it right off the spoon!

(see sour cream sugar cookies for cookie recipe)

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries-By Jani

1 large Hersheys Symphony chocolate bar

1 tablespoon shortening

Wash and dry strawberries. Break up chocolate into little pieces and place in bowl with shortening. Melt in microwave until smooth. (just a couple minutes). Dip strawberries into chocolate and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. If you want to add sprinkles do it immediately after you dip the strawberry into chocolate. Place in refrigerator to set up.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Jell-o- By Jani

1 Lg package Raspberry Jell-O
8 oz cream cheese (you may not need to use all of it)
2 cups or 1 small pkg pecan pieces (chopped)
1 pkg frozen raspberries
Extra creamy cool whip

Prepare Jell-O as directed on package. Pour into 9x13 glass dish and place in refrigerator for about 35-45 minutes or until it is kinda syrupy. Cut cream cheese into little pieces and roll into balls (no bigger than a dime) then roll in nuts. When Jell-o is syrupy stir in raspberries and cream cheese balls. Place back into refrigerator to finish setting up. Top with cool whip right before serving.

Steak Marinate- By Jani

1 Pkg Au Jus Gravy

Garlic pepper Seasoning

Mix Au jus package with 3 cups water. Sprinkle garlic pepper over steaks. Pour Au Jus over steaks and marinate overnight or for several hours.

Shawn got this idea from a meat cutter he was talking with and so we tried it. It makes the steaks so yummy!

Muffin Tin Apple Pies- By Kolt

Muffin Tin Apple Pies

1 can refrigerator biscuts

Softened butter

Cinnamon sugar

Shredded Fuji or Gala apples

Roll out biscut dough, spread some butter on it, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and then place shredded apple in the center. Wrap it up and place a toothpick in it to keep all the sides together. Place in greased muffin tin and bake at 350* for about 10 minutes or until biscuts are golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.